Sally Rosenthal : Maria, 1983
"The principles they taught us, which I still use every day, were being an active part of one’s community, the synergy between art and science, and that process is the essence of creativity. You could do pretty much anything you wanted to do in this environment. It was not a structured program in the sense of teaching anything at all. It was a learning envi- ronment in which we could swim in an ocean of customized tools and support.
I finally felt literate in this world I so wanted to be part of. The first piece I remember creat- ing was made on the Bally Arcade. It was simply black boxes moving on the screen. They had a little bit of motion and they made people laugh. It was about two minutes long and I think it is the best thing I’ve ever done. It had a naïve charm. I think about that piece when I get stuck. I think, “You’re all hung up because you know too much. Pretend you don’t know anything and maybe you can get unstuck.” It works."
Featured in 'New Media Futures: The Rise of Women in the Digital Arts'.
Courtesy of Sally Rosenthal and the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago.
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